Characters

Nell – Hamm's mother; has no legs and lives in a dustbin next to Nagg.

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Beckett, an avid chess fan, saw the parallel between the chess endgame the final stages of life. He realized that death is the final outcome and that regardless of how a person plays the game, he or she will die.

Yes, it is a one act play. This is an example of the style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. A one act play allows for continuous momentum and a compact structure for the writer to get his/her themes across.